I learned through an article from Sky News and in this article from KillBait that Epiris, the private equity firm that acquired London area-based Direct Cremation provider Pure Cremation just over two years ago, is beginning a process to sell the company.

Pure Cremation, arguably the most financially successful start-up in Death Care business history started in 2015 by husband/wife founders Bryan and Catherine Powell.  The timing was evidently perfect for the business which serviced the cremations of Death Care clientele who preferred “simple services with no mourners present”.

That type of service, now christened “Direct Cremation” has grown exponentially since that time in Great Britain, somewhat driven by a combination of price, simplicity, and a decline in religious funeral traditions.

The Powells were quick to learn of the value of Preneed and Pre-arrangements for Pure Cremation.  They employed an aggressive marketing campaign for Preneed with an advertising budget stressing the Pure Cremation “No fuss” cremation options.  According to this 2022 article from Sky News, they sold over 65,000 preneed policies in 2021.   In my opinion, greatly increasing the value of the company.

While no purchase price was, to my knowledge, ever reported when private equity company Epiris purchased Pure Cremation in July 2023, Sky News articles estimated that the company was worth “up to US$ 533 million” at the time.

The above linked KillBait article suggests “Although the current owners (Epiris) are targeting a sale worth upwards of £500 million (US$ 667 million), estimates suggest the business could fetch as much as £700 million (US$932 million) based on its profitability.

Here is the July 31, 2023, press release from Epiris announcing that they had purchased Pure Cremation.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  From my point of view “Growth Companies” are companies that increase revenue and value greatly in a short period of time.  They do so, in many cases, because they have invented new “widgets” that consumers prefer over other options.  For instance “Vizio” creates “smart TV’s” that consumers now prefer over old analog television sets.  The rapid growth of Vizio, which is owned by WalMart, certainly would qualify the company, in my book, as a “Growth Company”.

As an aside here. . . .just think of the opportunities for WalMart to build relationships with those free (advertiser supported) content streaming companies such as Tubi, Pluto, and others.  WalMart can probably make agreements to advertise their products on those streaming services in return for the opportunity for those services to be “imbedded” in the Vizio product.  As long as that Vizio smart TV is in the family room WalMart can probably arrange to have low-cost access to advertising and the opportunity to customize (through AI) those ads to the content a viewer watches. No wonder they sell those TVs so inexpensively — they are not only viewing screens but advertising mechanisms set up right in your television-watching room for WalMart.

Back to the article, compare that thought process of a “Growth Company” with funeral home public companies such as Service Corporation International and Carriage Services. . . . who I look at as mature companies whose operations and finances, in my opinion, operate more like utility companies.  That is, they are “Slow-growth”, generally through acquisitions, funded by debt rather than high-growth cash-flow, without the fast-growing “new widget” or idea that could propel them into “Growth companies”.

In my opinion, Pure Cremation is somewhat different and exhibits itself as more of a “Growth Company” that can fetch a higher valuation for its company because of the long-range, hypothetical growth potential based on the “new widget” of Direct Cremation coupled with aggressive Preneed marketing and sales.

Again, in my opinion, there is nothing wrong with “slow, methodical growth” of a business.  However, businesses need to know what they are.  Later in this article is a chart that I made of four public Death Care stocks along with a couple of “new widget” growth companies.  Again, in my opinion, “Growth Companies” have a characteristic of “higher potential gains accompanied by more financial risk” and companies that operate in a field such as traditional Death Care and have “Slow-Growth” characteristics of “slower growth and less financial risk”.

The chart below is representative of that phenomena.  It shows the annual revenue of the companies that comprise the Funeral Director Daily Death Care Index (DCI) and two other “new widget” public growth companies.  It also shows the value of those companies as indicated by Market Capitalization (Defined as the Stock price x Number of Outstanding shares of stock).  (Note:  All values come from Seeking Alpha data as of October 9, 2025.)

Again, at least from my perspective, it is very easy to see that the Death Care companies do not have a high valuation in relation to the revenues that they bring in —  more than likely because of their “slow-growth” perception to investors.  I see that is where Pure Cremation differs from them in that they have the growth expectation of the consumer’s increased use of “Direct Cremation” raising their value.

Market Capitalization of Death Care Companies and “True Growth” Companies

At any rate, it will be interesting to see who might be the purchaser of Pure Cremation.  It very well could be a public company that wants to add a perceived “high growth” company to its portfolio.

Disclosure:  The author of this article for Funeral Director Daily is a shareholder of Service Corporation International, Carriage Services, Security National Financial Corporation, ATS Spacemobile, and Applied Digital Corporation.

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Investigation of Davis Mortuary Broadens; Owner Resigns His Coroner Post

It’s only been about three weeks since an inspection of Davis Mortuary in Pueblo, Colorado by the state’s Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) uncovered a concealed room full of human remains, some of which had been in the room for 15 years. In that short time, though, authorities have upgraded the body count, expanded the scope of the investigation, and sparked new discussions about Colorado’s deathcare regulations, eerily echoing the aftermath of 2023’s Return to Nature Funeral Home tragedy.

Rippling repercussions

On August 20, DORA representatives carrying out the agency’s first-ever inspection of Davis Mortuary found what they initially thought to be 20 sets of human remains that Brian Cotter, who served as Pueblo County coroner and co-owns the funeral home with his brother, Chris, admitted had been covertly stored in the room for years. Six days later, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) revised the number of remains to 24, adding that it could take months to sort through the boxes of bones and containers of “probable human tissue” to confirm this number, identify the deceased, and notify families.

The mortuary’s business license was immediately revoked, and Colorado Governor Jared Polis called for Brian Cotter to resign from his position as coroner. Cotter submitted his resignation on August 29 with an effective date of September 2, and coroners in two neighboring counties are pitching in to help with the Pueblo County coroner’s office workload. In the meantime, the homes of both Brian Cotter and Chris Cotter have been searched, and both have retained attorneys, although no formal charges have been issued as of September 5.

Legal and financial implications

Inevitably, this discovery revived criticisms of the laws that govern funeral homes, funeral workers, and elected coroners in Colorado. The Return to Nature scandal, which uncovered in a Penrose, Colorado facility nearly 300 decomposing bodies that were supposed to have been cremated, led to brand new laws in 2024 meant to govern the previously unregulated deathcare profession. The August 20 visit to Davis Mortuary was a direct result of new inspection guidelines within that legislation.

It seems that the Davis Mortuary incident is also following in the footsteps of Return to Nature by illuminating gaps in the state’s laws governing coroners. Senator Nick Hinrichsen, who has lived in Pueblo for 10 years, now wants to investigate the potential conflicts of interest of coroners owning funeral homes. He also hopes to allow coroners to be “removed from their elected positions in extreme cases” like this, rather than simply requesting and waiting for a resignation.

Most recently, the Colorado Department of Insurance (DOI) has joined the CBI in the investigation of Davis Mortuary, focusing on the firm’s preneed program. The DOI is asking anyone who prepaid for funeral services from the now-shuttered business to fill out a form on their website, although it’s unclear at this time whether breach of contract claims will result in a refund, as there may be no resources from which to recover funds.

Doors are closed

Authorities say that because the investigation into Davis Mortuary is ongoing, no arrest warrants have been issued for the Cotter brothers, who are not considered flight risks. In addition to the revocation of the operating license for the funeral home, the business has also been served a notice to vacate the property at 128 Broadway Avenue in Pueblo. The eviction notice is due to the owners “conducting criminal activity on the property, storage of bodies over the allowed limit as stated by CBI investigation.”

The Davis Mortuary website is still active, although all photos and bios from the “Our Staff” page have been removed. The business is listed as “temporarily closed” by Google.

Georgia Funeral Home Eviction Uncovers 18 Decomposing Bodies; Owner Charged With Felonies

A Georgia funeral home owner has been arrested on 17 counts of abuse of a dead body after authorities serving an eviction notice found 18 bodies in various states of decomposition. Two deceased pets were also discovered.

On Saturday, October 26, members of the Coffee County, Georgia Sheriff’s Offices intended to serve an eviction notice at Johnson Funeral and Cremation Services in Douglas, Georgia, which is a little over three hours south of Atlanta. Agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) were on hand to assist in the process, and immediately opened an investigation after making the gruesome discovery.

Based on their findings, the GBI arrested the funeral home’s owner, Chris Johnson, 39, and charged him with 17 counts of abuse of a dead body. The arrest was made on Sunday, October 27 at Johnson’s home.

“It’s obviously a terrible case,” Gabe Sterling, chief operating officer of the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, told Atlanta News First. Sterling’s office provides administrative support for the Georgia State Board of Funeral Service.

 “His license lapsed for a period of time this year and then he reinstated his funeral director’s license and his embalmer’s license. The facility license was still not renewed.”

According to Atlanta News First, Johnson ran unsuccessfully to become the Coffee County coroner this year, and his business was not a member of the Georgia Funeral Directors Association. DouglasNews.com adds that Johnson had “been the subject of an investigation for quite some time.” 

That outlet said Johnson was “in the process of moving” his funeral home to a new location that he was preparing, but was still operating in the facility where the bodies were found, and that “rumblings of various issues” at the funeral home had been circulating “for a long time.”

Families recently served by Johnson shared with local news outlets their frustrations with the funeral director as news of the discovery broke. One family member said they had called “over 50 or 60 times” about the status of certified death certificates, for which they had already paid, and Johnson did not answer or return calls.  Another family member said they knocked on the door of the funeral home over and over — knowing that Johnson was inside, as his car was parked outside — for nearly a year before Johnson finally provided the certificates.

The GBI has provided several methods for families to reach out if they believe their family members may be among the deceased discovered at Johnson Funeral and Cremation Services.

The most recent obituary posted to the funeral home’s website indicates the service and burial took place on October 10, 2024. The website displays only 10 obituaries, with the earliest services being held on May 30 of this year. 

One news outlet explained that one of the 18 bodies discovered on Saturday had not been in the funeral home long enough for charges to be filed, thus Johnson has only been charged with 17 felony counts. His bond has been denied and he is being held in Coffee County jail.

We recently learned of an interesting sale/acquisition story that happened recently in Illinois.  This article from the Mendota Reporter will tell you of the sale of the Merritt Funeral Home to the Unger-Horner Funeral Home.

It’s interesting to note, according to the article, that the Merritt Funeral Home has been in the Merritt family since 1938 and the Unger-Horner Funeral Home dates all the way back to 1861 and has seen six generations of the Unger-Horner family work there.

What else is interesting about the transaction is that is does not appear to have had a hitch in the process. . . . possibly because the elders of both funeral homes, Bob Merritt and Don Horner, have been friends and colleagues since 1966.  Here’s what Don Horner said in the article about the relationship and this situation coming together,  “Bob and I have been friends and colleagues since 1966.  It’s been a great relationship for both of us. When he (Bob Merritt) decided he was going to sell his funeral home, I told my kids earlier on that this would be a good funeral home for them to think about. They’re two long-standing family businesses, which is unique. It’s going to be part of our family business and our heritage. It’s been wonderful to see this happen.”

And, here’s what the seller, Bob Merritt said in that article, “I saw them as being the next owners of this funeral home.  I’ve  always had them in mind for it. Passing this off to a family like the Horners is the only way it could have gone for me to feel good about selling. It means the world to me that they’ll carry on. It makes it easier to walk away from this business I’ve known all my life. I feel very confident in what Derek (Horner) and Chad (Horner) will do with it.”

One of the new owners, Chad Horner, made this comment in the article, “One thing about being family-owned and operated is we care about the families.  That comes before the business of it. Families have always come first. People in Rochelle and Mendota that come to us will know that their funeral home cares about them first.”

Here is the website of the Unger-Horner Funeral Home in Rochelle

Here is the website of the new Horner-Merritt Funeral Home in Mendota

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  It’s always good to see an acquisition story where it appears that both the buyer and seller come together without animosity at the closing of the transaction.  It’s also refreshing to see that issues, outside of finances, still drive some of the business transactions being done.

From everthing I read in the article it appears that the Horner family is happy for the opportunity that growth may bring to  them and Mr. Merritt is very happy that his funeral home is under ownership that he feels will continue to serve his community in the same way he would.

If you are thinking about retirement or selling your funeral home for any reason I think it is important to know what you might be looking for in a successor. . . . . maybe it doesn’t matter to you and finances are the sole variable in your sale.  However, most transactions in the death care profession have some sense of an owner who has worked in his community for years wanting to know that, at least in some form or fashion, his methods and values are somewhat carried on by the successor.

Once the paperwork is signed and the dollars transacted that doesn’t always seem to happen.  Many times that stems from simple mis-understandings about continuing operations during the process.   That mis-understanding can lead to lack of trust and support from the former owner and that is something that any new owner would not want to happen.

Selling your funeral home and getting the right team in place as the successor is most of the time different from simply getting the highest price from a buyer.  When I needed help in getting this formula right I turned to the experts at Johnson Consulting Group and I’ve always been glad I did.

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